Books Archive - University of Pittsburgh Press

William Bartram’s Visual Wonders

The Drawings of an American Naturalist

By Elizabeth A. Athens

Positions Bartram’s Illustrations as Central to His Understanding of the Natural World

An Introduction to the History of Chronobiology, Volume 1

Biological Rhythms Emerge as a Subject of Scientific Research

By Jole Shackelford

The First Systematic Academic History of the Study of Biological Rhythms

An Introduction to the History of Chronobiology, Volume 2

Biological Rhythms in Animals and Humans

By Jole Shackelford

The First Systematic Academic History of the Study of Biological Rhythms

An Introduction to the History of Chronobiology, Volume 3

Metaphors, Models, and Mechanisms

By Jole Shackelford

The First Systematic Academic History of the Study of Biological Rhythms

Engineering the Environment

Phytotrons and the Quest for Climate Control in the Cold War

By David P. D. Munns

This is the first history of phytotrons, huge climate-controlled laboratories that enabled plant scientists to experiment on the environmental causes of growth and development of living organisms. Made possible by computers and other modern technologies of the early Cold War, phytotrons promised an end to global hunger and political instability, spreading around the world to thirty countries after World War II.

Experimenting at the Boundaries of Life

Organic Vitality in Germany around 1800

By Joan Steigerwald

Examines Debates Surrounding the First Articulations of a Science of Life and Experiments on the Processes of Organic Vitality

Far Beyond the Moon

A History of Life Support Systems in the Space Age

By David P. D. Munns, Kärin Nickelsen

An Engaging History of the Less Glamorous but Equally Essential Aspects of Space Travel: Sanitation, Food Supply, and Waste Disposal